Confronting the cult of Cutco.

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HumbleHomeCook said:
Relax. I was quite clear that I'm not defending Cutco.
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Not sure where to go from here. I acknowledged that there is a customer base for cutco while maintaining I’m not a fan. So I’m not out here trying to put people down or flex my (limited) knowledge as an ego boost.

I linked the article because your observation of how aebl / 440a being similar didn’t sound right to me so I did a little research before responding ignorantly.

There were good vibes on this thread and maybe light hearted joking but it took a turn. So how about we both relax then?
 
Bico Doce said:
Not sure where to go from here. I acknowledged that there is a customer base for cutco while maintaining I’m not a fan. So I’m not out here trying to put people down or flex my (limited) knowledge as an ego boost.

I linked the article because your observation of how aebl / 440a being similar didn’t sound right to me so I did a little research before responding ignorantly.

There were good vibes on this thread and maybe light hearted joking but it took a turn. So how about we both relax then?
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I'm not worked up in the slightest.
 
OldSaw said:
I only tagged you for the garbage can reference. I understand your appreciation for superior steel.

I have done a side by side comparison and on cutting performance there is no comparison, nearly any average J-knife would out cut a Cutco knife (and that’s why I prefer them for myself). However, on a durability and abuse scale, Cutco wins all day long, hands down (and that’s why I prefer them for my wife).
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Really comes down the the good old: buy the maker not the steel. For whatever specific need there’s one out there that just does it.
 
440C(60HRC) is the ones that’s more similar to above mentioned because have higher carbon. 440A normally have liked 56RC on Rockwell chart. Something this low RC only good for abusive tasks.
But I’ve tried a 58-59HRC FKM knife before, the edge retention isn’t even good at this range, dulls in one shift after breaking down some fish.
 
I am not a knife snob. My collection contains cheap mass production knives bought in supermarkets and flea markets and Chinese grocery stores. Knives that I'm proud to use at home and in professional kitchens and on YouTube. But I got rid of all of the Cutco knives except for that peeler. What does that mean? They were not fun to sharpen. They were not fun to use. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. Except for that peeler. Man that's a helluva peeler.

 
OldSaw said:
First off, I don’t think anyone ever pays full price for Cutco. They use over the top pricing to give “now how much would you pay” discounts on sets.

If you never want to learn to sharpen, don’t mind sending your knives in once in a while, just want something of reasonable quality that the manufacturer will stand behind for the rest of your life, and can buy them from your neighbor’s college kid for a steep discount, then they might fit the bill for you.
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These two statements appear to be at odds. How is it a 'steep discount' when this is the way the knives are retailed, and they never sell for the outrageous 'MSRP'. It is a marketing ploy to make people feel like they getting something awesome for 40% off. It is pure marketing BS.

I don't think poorly of the customers, but I sure do think poorly of the company.
 
WildBoar said:
These two statements appear to be at odds. How is it a 'steep discount' when this is the way the knives are retailed, and they never sell for the outrageous 'MSRP'. It is a marketing ploy to make people feel like they getting something awesome for 40% off. It is pure marketing BS.

I don't think poorly of the customers, but I sure do think poorly of the company.
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I don’t like their marketing practices either. Discounts are all relative to wherever they want to set their starting point. I’m just saying that while raising three kids I never had to worry about them getting ruined and they also went in the dishwasher every night. They are also better than the Chicago Cutlery stuff I had before that.

Now that I’m old and don’t have soccer camps and medical symposiums to pay for any more I’m spending some money on myself and getting good knives. However, I’m not throwing the Cutco knives away, as the penalty of ownership has already been paid. Now I will gladly provide them to anyone who wants to help and not worry one bit about them.
 
I thought I had sharpened 440A stainless before but I could not sharpen the Cutco knife with my Worksharp.

Has anybody sharpened a Cutco knife? What stones did you use?
 
I sold Cutco knives (poorly) for one summer a long long time ago. Kind of jaded by the pyramid tactics of using friends and family. I hate them to this day. They aren’t even good knives and painful to sharpen and I think do the dreaded burr flipping. They’re ****.

Ok- if you or someone you know has them, it’s not all bad- Historically, they have a great warranty program where you package them up and they sharpen and in some cases refurbish them. My roommate at one time dishwashed it on the bottom rack and melted the handle off and was sent a new one. There were a couple of instances like this in my family too- broken tips, flat serrated teeth & abused edges. Never throw them away, send them in. I’m pretty sure my family just packs them in box to whatever address.

the spatula spreader is my favorite. Flexy serrated edge (“double d”) and good for peanut butter, brie and cream cheese. I’ll ask the family about a peeler.

I haven’t heard of this but If they want to have a rep meet w you, HELL NO. Remember Pyramid- they will ask u for a list of folks to contact. Buying another ****** knife will be the least you’ll have to worry about- Losing friends/family, house/car vandalized. Don’t do it.
 
Cutco is complete trash. I feel sorry for the ignorant who fall prey to them. I remember hearing the spiel before I knew better. Fortunately, I did not buy them. I guess save who you can. Whenever they cone up I say they are complete trash do not purchase. Perhaps we could create YouTube videos and protest at places where they are setup. I remember seeing them setup in Costco. If I see them again, I’m going to say some stuff and cause a scene.
 
My brother-in-law uses Cutco knives and likes them. I could not talk him out of them. He is a great cook and lives in Napa.
 
I inherited a couple of Cutco knives and a pair of scissors from my wife’s mom. The scissors aren’t bad, I use them all the time and like the fact I can throw them in the dishwasher for cleanup. The dinner knives don’t inspire me, but I’ve used worse. I give them to my older friends and relatives when they are over for a meal … they are invariably delighted at being treated so special. A lot of life is illusion.
 
coxhaus said:
I thought I had sharpened 440A stainless before but I could not sharpen the Cutco knife with my Worksharp.

Has anybody sharpened a Cutco knife? What stones did you use?
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I used to try sharpening my then girlfriends set. After we got married I made her get rid of them. I never had much luck getting them sharp and the retention was worse than Chinese restaurant supply knives that cost about $8 a piece. I probably used Shapton Glass and Naniwa Super Stones exclusively then. If I was asked to sharpen one today I would thin it on a belt sander and then do a blended convex bevel with Debado 200 and polish it with a washita. Deburr on cbn pasted denim. The same treatment I use for most cheap stainless.
 
Bico Doce said:
Are there any top makers out there using this steel?
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Misono has a line in 440, here is how it is described on JCK:
For these knives Misono uses “High 16 Chromium and Molybdenum Stainless Steel" (HRc. 58-59), which offers superior durability, rust resistance and ease of sharpening than standard Molybdenum stainless steels.

Personally, I am not Misono's biggest fan, but they are pretty highly regarded by culinary professionals.
 
Misono 440 is a very common knife in pro kitchens. They are a great knife. They have nothing in common with Cutcos. I would recommend basic NSF/Dexter/Mercer/Victorinox type knives over CutCo.

chefwp said:
Misono has a line in 440, here is how it is described on JCK:
For these knives Misono uses “High 16 Chromium and Molybdenum Stainless Steel" (HRc. 58-59), which offers superior durability, rust resistance and ease of sharpening than standard Molybdenum stainless steels.

Personally, I am not Misono's biggest fan, but they are pretty highly regarded by culinary professionals.
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I was gifted a couple of Cutco knives, a Santoku and serrated knife from work. When I first got them I looked up the price as they are sold as a set, I was shocked that they are so expensive. First off I hate the handles and there heavy. I don’t mind the serrated knife at all, stays sharp for ever. I have had no problem getting the Santoku really sharp, but eventually with that strange grind it comes with it will probably hit the trash can at some point because I just don’t want to spend the time to re-grind it. My wife loves it, I’m guessing because of the small handle. I personally will never buy one EVER!! But to each his own!
 
mpier said:
I was gifted a couple of Cutco knives, a Santoku and serrated knife from work. When I first got them I looked up the price as they are sold as a set, I was shocked that they are so expensive. First off I hate the handles and there heavy. I don’t mind the serrated knife at all, stays sharp for ever. I have had no problem getting the Santoku really sharp, but eventually with that strange grind it comes with it will probably hit the trash can at some point because I just don’t want to spend the time to re-grind it. My wife loves it, I’m guessing because of the small handle. I personally will never buy one EVER!! But to each his own!
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If your wife loves it then don’t get rid of it. Let her use it, abuse it, grind it, smash it, throw it in the dishwasher. You’ll never have to worry about her chipping the edge of your good knives as long as she’s using those. When she thinks it’s too dull to use, tell her to mail it in and they will sharpen it for her.
 
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Sounds like you basically pre-pay for lifetime sharpening and replacement. I guess that’s great for someone who doesn’t want to deal with the mental cycles of sharpening or worrying about damage.

But if you spent $450 on a set 20 years ago, that’s around $730 in inflation-adjusted dollars today. Say you bought a Vic or something similar for $50, and your local sharpener will touch it up for $8. Seems like you could buy a ton of sharpening and replacements over time and have the saved money in your pocket meanwhile. And you’d probably sharpen the knives more often vs the hassle of packing and shipping.

Anyway, as @OldSaw has pointed out, some people prefer to just pay once and be done with the mental hassle of the whole thing. I think there’s a different mental perspective to “The vendor will replace this for free” vs “I can just buy a replacement”. I can see the attraction from that perspective.
 
OldSaw said:
If your wife loves it then don’t get rid of it. Let her use it, abuse it, grind it, smash it, throw it in the dishwasher. You’ll never have to worry about her chipping the edge of your good knives as long as she’s using those. When she thinks it’s to dull to use, tell her to mail it in and they will sharpen it for her.
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SilverSwarfer said:
View attachment 164560:eek:
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I replaced my wife's Cutcos with Japanese and German factory produced knives and a few independent maker customs that are tough enough to handle her abuse but more fun for me to sharpen and maintain. I'm not sure if the marriage would have worked if she had insisted on keeping the Cutcos. But I will keep that peeler forever.
 
stringer said:
I replaced my wife's Cutcos with Japanese and German factory produced knives and a few independent maker customs that are tough enough to handle her abuse but more fun for me to sharpen and maintain. I'm not sure if the marriage would have worked if she had insisted on keeping the Cutcos. But I will keep that peeler forever.
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That sounds like an awesome peeler. My biggest beef with peelers is their tendency to walk away.

I recently lost a small Victorinox paring knife that was stuck in a wheel of brie during thanksgiving at my parent’s house. It was my wife’s favorite paring knife, again well over twenty years old. I ended up getting a couple from Amazon for $7.47 each and they are still Swiss made. I probably paid about $3 for the first one. They’re not fancy, but they take a licking and I didn’t feel so bad when it went missing (either got thrown out with the trash or ended up going home with my sister-in-law). I have a Wusthof and a Tojiro petty that satisfy my paring needs… for now.
 
stringer said:
Misono 440 is a very common knife in pro kitchens. They are a great knife. They have nothing in common with Cutcos. I would recommend basic NSF/Dexter/Mercer/Victorinox type knives over CutCo.
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I've never held a Cutco knife before, but i'll take the majority of opinions I respect here that they are poo. A Misono moly was actually the first J-knife I ever bought more than a decade ago back when I was a pro.
 
chefwp said:
Misono has a line in 440, here is how it is described on JCK:
For these knives Misono uses “High 16 Chromium and Molybdenum Stainless Steel" (HRc. 58-59), which offers superior durability, rust resistance and ease of sharpening than standard Molybdenum stainless steels.

Personally, I am not Misono's biggest fan, but they are pretty highly regarded by culinary professionals.
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Misono is well respected so if they are using 440a then I stand corrected. That description could also apply to 440b & 440c which have the exact same composition except for more carbon. My guess is that they are using 440c but it could be the other variations as well
 
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